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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23088595">Double Date</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRookBook/pseuds/TheRookBook'>TheRookBook</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Rookie (Tumblr Request) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Rookie (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Double Date</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:53:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,141</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23088595</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRookBook/pseuds/TheRookBook</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Double dates are supposed to be fun, this one..not so much. </p><p>This was requested by someone on Tumblr. Enjoy!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tim Bradford &amp; Lucy Chen, Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen, Tim Bradford/Rachel Hall</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Rookie (Tumblr Request) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663039</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>157</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Double Date</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tim didn’t know how Rachel roped him into a double date. He tended to try and keep their relationship private, hidden from prying eyes. Rachel had set one of her friends up with a guy she knows through work and had asked Tim to join her. The only way her friend would agree to the date was if Rachel tagged along.<br/>
<br/>
He was reluctant to agree, but ultimately, he caved. Maybe it was what she had promised for the after-party that had piqued his interest. That’s how he found himself sitting in a booth beside Rachel at some fancy restaurant in downtown LA.<br/>
<br/>
The guy sitting across from him had already made Tim question even coming out tonight. He was not impressed. First, it was his clothes. Then it was his hair that was in a bun. Then the way he made everything about himself. The guy wasn’t interested in talking about football, baseball, or anything that involved physical activity. Everything about this guy rubbed Tim the wrong way.<br/>
<br/>
He was studying the guy over once more when Rachel’s voice interrupted his thought process. “Oh, she’s here,” Rachel said after checking her phone and putting it down.<br/>
<br/>
“About time,” Tim complains earning a glare from Rachel. “What? Twenty minutes late? On a first date? I would have left fifteen minutes ago.”<br/>
<br/>
“It’s okay,” the guy across from him says. “If she’s anything like Rachel described then I would wait a lot longer than twenty minutes.”<br/>
<br/>
Tim rolled his eyes reaching for his beer in front of him. At least this place had good drinks to get him through this.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh hey,” the friend starts excited, but her tone quickly drops when it lands on her supervisor who was also sitting in the booth, “guys.”<br/>
<br/>
Tim’s hand was already raising his beer, but he paused when his eyes landed on his boot standing next to him. He locked eyes with her for a second, before he forces himself to look away and drain what was left in the bottle. “About time,” he snapped sharply. He could feel Rachel’s heated glare already.<br/>
<br/>
“Sorry some of us can’t jump in the shower and run out the door,” she bit back at him as she sat down in the booth directly across from Tim.<br/>
<br/>
“You two know each other,” the guy asks once she sits down. The TO and boot never breaking eye contact.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes,” they said quickly still staring at each other.<br/>
<br/>
“Hi,” Lucy said breaking eye contact from Tim to look at her date sitting beside her. “I’m Lucy.”<br/>
<br/>
“Chris.”<br/>
<br/>
She just got here, and Tim already wants to puke just watching this. They ate a nice dinner. A couple of steaks and salads followed by a slice of cheesecake for everyone. Rachel and Lucy shared stories about their times at college, some of which made Tim raise an eyebrow or two.<br/>
<br/>
“So, what do you do for a living,” Lucy asks Chris beside her as she sets her fork down on her plate.<br/>
<br/>
“If you say, screenwriter, I’m going to arrest you right now,” Tim interjects glaring across the table at the guy. He felt a pain in his shin were Rachel’s foot made contact. He turned his head and looked at her quickly.<br/>
<br/>
“Actually, I’m a defense attorney.”<br/>
<br/>
“Even worse,” Tim said snidely earning another kick in the shin from Rachel on one leg and Lucy on the other. He grimaced slightly taking a bite from his cheesecake.<br/>
<br/>
“What about you Luce?”<br/>
<br/>
Did he just hear that right? Did he just call her Luce? Tim didn’t know why but just hearing the guy call her that raised his annoyance to another level.<br/>
<br/>
“Well right now I’m a rookie with the LAPD. Tim is my training officer.”<br/>
<br/>
He was dreading this now. He was dreading it this whole time. Ever since Lucy walked in, he knew this was going to be a long night. Tim tried to suppress the jealousy he felt, but it was getting harder and harder each time Chris moved closer and closer to Lucy. He fought the urge to reach across the table and physically move the two away from each other.<br/>
<br/>
He hated the way she laughed at his dumb corny jokes. Something in his gut flared when she would put her hand on Chris’s shoulder as she told a story. He hated the way she looked at him and the way he looked at her.<br/>
<br/>
Rachel tried to distract him a couple of times, but Tim couldn’t get the thought of Lucy being so close to Chris out of his mind. “Excuse me,” he said quickly sliding out from the table and walking away. He needed to get out of this restaurant now.<br/>
<br/>
He’s out there alone for a minute trying to collect his thoughts when Rachel joins him. “What is wrong with you?”<br/>
<br/>
“Nothing,” he snaps. “I never should have agreed to do this.”<br/>
<br/>
Rachel looks at him confused. “What? You were perfectly fine before Lucy got here. Why are you acting like this?”<br/>
<br/>
Tim stays quiet. His eyes shifting from Rachel to back inside the restaurant where he can see Lucy and Chris leaned in close talking to each other. “You’re falling for her, aren’t you?”<br/>
<br/>
“No,” Tim tried to deny shaking his head. He peeled his eyes away from Lucy to look at Rachel in front of him. He didn’t want to hurt her, but there was no way they could stay together after this.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, you are.”<br/>
<br/>
“Rachel,” he says softly. For one of the only times in his life, Tim Bradford does not know what to say. There isn’t an underlying way for him to solve this. There wasn’t a way to get around this without facing how he was feeling.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s okay Tim,” she said stepping closer to him. “I should have seen it a long time ago. After Lucy got hurt, I guess I did, but I decided to ignore it.”<br/>
<br/>
“I’m sorry,” he apologized look into her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t,” she started as she moved so she was just in front of him. Tim closed his eyes waiting for the slap to come. End things the way they started, but it never came. Instead, she gently placed a kiss on his cheek. “You need to tell her, Tim. She’s falling for you too,” she tells him softly as she starts to move away from him. “Don’t hurt her.”<br/>
Tim stood in the parking lot watching Rachel as she crossed the street and headed back inside the restaurant. He sees Lucy look his way, making eye contact for a moment before she looked back to Rachel. He stood there for a minute longer watching concern spread over Lucy’s face. Kicking himself, Tim turned and headed towards his truck. He needed to go home before he did something he shouldn’t do.</p>
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